Under Fire (Love Over Duty #1)(78)

Louisa had always poo-poo'd butterflies in your stomach as an idea, because, well, it was stupid, and her nervous stomach felt horrible when it flared up. But suddenly she felt them, and even though they were a biological misnomer, they were beautiful.

Daylight filtered in through the dark curtains as she turned in his arms, and he sleepily opened his eyes.

"Mmm. I could get used to waking up to your sweet face, Lou," he mumbled gruffly.

"How did you get this?" she asked, and trailed her finger along the purple line on his stomach.

Six grabbed her hand and kissed her fingertips. The playful touches made her heart swell. "Gunshot wound, doing something I can't talk about, in a place we likely should never have been."

"Oh my God, that's awful. I'm so sorry. You're a regular hero. I hope they gave you a medal for that." She linked her fingers with his.

"They gave me two." Six shrugged as if it was no big deal. "A Purple Heart and a Silver Star."

Louisa ran her fingers through his hair. "Do you have other medals?" she asked, her stomach tightening at the thought of him being in so much danger, or worse, hurt.

"A Bronze Star," he said, putting his arm over her waist and pulling her closer.

"What's the difference between a Bronze Star and a Silver Star?"

"My level of awesomeness," he said, tugging her to his lips for a sweet kiss.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Your level of awesomeness?"

"Yup. Awesomeness."

"Well, Mr. Awesomeness. Do you feel like telling me what you know? You promised you would last night."

Six shrugged out of her arms, kissed her forehead, and sat up. "Not here. Not in our room," he said, and her heart spiked at the use of "our." He pulled on some shorts. "Come on, I'll cook while we talk. I know you're a sucker for bacon."

An hour later, Louisa sipped the last of her coffee, her stomach full of their compromise. Tofu scramble and bacon. Six had told her about everything he'd learned, and she'd told him about Vasilii's phone call and text.

"It's highly probable he wants you to go see him so they can take you from there. So rule one-oh-one  …  no matter what happens, no matter what he says, you don't go to Ivan or Vasilii for any reason at all."

Lou looked up at him. "Yes, sir," she said, and saluted.

"I'm not joking, Lou. He contacts you again, tell me right away. And that was the worst freaking salute I've ever seen," he said, and took her plate. There was a loud clatter as he dropped it into the sink.

Lou pondered what they could do to try to find out what Vasilii might be up to. "I have a friend," she said, immediately thinking of Aiden. "He runs the lab opposite mine. He's a good man. I think we should go see him and see what he might know. He might have seen something and doesn't realize it. Or maybe he already heard something from the lab search."

"You sure he won't reveal anything to the Popovs?" Six said, and came around the counter to stand in front of her.

"Positive," she said, and placed her arms around his waist. It was a wonder that she got to enjoy this man.

"In that case, why don't we get cleaned up? I can give the guys a call on the way over and update them."



       
         
       
        

Two hours later, after a shower which had picked up where they'd left off the previous evening and a forty-minute drive to Aiden's Chula Vista home, Louisa stood on the porch and rang the bell.

"Louisa," he said with surprise. "Please come in. Are you okay? I've been worried about you."

Louisa watched the way he looked Six over, trying to size him up. "Aiden, this is Six, a  …  friend of mine. He's helping me right now."

Six offered his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Aiden."

Aiden shook it tentatively. It wouldn't have served any purpose to tell Six that she was aware of Aiden's crush. Nor would it have been fair to Aiden. Except in the moment, it was obvious to everybody, and she wished she could have prevented that.

"Vasilii said you were taking some time off for personal reasons," Aiden said, casting his eye toward Six. "And your lab is closed. Is it because of the theft?"

Louisa nodded as she followed him into the living room. She sat down on the sofa, and Six sat down next to her. "Can you tell us what's been happening in the lab this week?"

Aiden filled them in on the details. The thorough check for the samples, the lab scrutiny, and over the last couple of days, there had been a number of detectives passing in and out of the building. "There have even been some FBI agents. Liz is frustrated," he said, referring to Vasilii's assistant. "Vasilii is in the middle of this big land deal that she wishes he'd just put on hold while all this is going on, but he's scared the seller will back out if he does."